EP1172784B1 - Lighting device usable for illuminating a panel or as a lamp for motor vehicles - Google Patents

Lighting device usable for illuminating a panel or as a lamp for motor vehicles Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP1172784B1
EP1172784B1 EP01830396A EP01830396A EP1172784B1 EP 1172784 B1 EP1172784 B1 EP 1172784B1 EP 01830396 A EP01830396 A EP 01830396A EP 01830396 A EP01830396 A EP 01830396A EP 1172784 B1 EP1172784 B1 EP 1172784B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
panel
illuminated
lamp
source
light source
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP01830396A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1172784A3 (en
EP1172784A2 (en
Inventor
Claudia Bigliati
Piero Perlo
Piermario Repetto
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Centro Ricerche Fiat SCpA
Original Assignee
Centro Ricerche Fiat SCpA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Centro Ricerche Fiat SCpA filed Critical Centro Ricerche Fiat SCpA
Publication of EP1172784A2 publication Critical patent/EP1172784A2/en
Publication of EP1172784A3 publication Critical patent/EP1172784A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1172784B1 publication Critical patent/EP1172784B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
    • B60Q1/26—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
    • B60Q1/56—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for illuminating registrations or the like, e.g. for licence plates
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
    • G09F13/00—Illuminated signs; Luminous advertising
    • G09F13/02—Signs, boards, or panels, illuminated by artificial light sources positioned in front of the insignia
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03H—HOLOGRAPHIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS
    • G03H1/00—Holographic processes or apparatus using light, infrared or ultraviolet waves for obtaining holograms or for obtaining an image from them; Details peculiar thereto
    • G03H1/22—Processes or apparatus for obtaining an optical image from holograms
    • G03H1/2202—Reconstruction geometries or arrangements

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to lighting devices, usable in particular for illuminating a panel or the like, or else as lamps for motor vehicles, of the type comprising at least one light source set adjacent to a side of the panel or of the transparent element of the lamp, and at least one reflecting surface adjacent to said light source, for reflecting the light rays emitted by the source onto a panel to be illuminated, or in the direction of the transparent element of the lamp.
  • a device according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from US-A-4 929 866 .
  • the purpose of the present invention is to provide a device of the type referred to above which will enable high and substantially uniform illumination of the entire surface of the panel or of the transparent element of the lamp, starting from one or more substantially punctiform light sources.
  • the subject of the present invention is a lighting device having the features of claim 1.
  • the aforesaid reflecting surface has a section in a vertical plane perpendicular to the plane of the panel to be illuminated or to the transparent element of the lamp that includes a first curved portion, closer to the light source, with the convexity facing the source, and a second curved portion, further away from the source, with the concavity facing the source.
  • the lighting device according to the invention is able to produce high and substantially uniform illumination over the entire surface of the panel or of the transparent element of the lamp, even though the light source is a point source.
  • a further advantage of the invention lies in the fact that the reflecting surface, thanks to its conformation described above, can extend simply along one portion of the side of the panel adjacent to which the source is set, in so far as the lateral marginal areas of the panel are illuminated even though the reflecting surface does not extend along an entire side of the panel. This characteristic leads to obvious advantages in terms of simplicity, economy, and reduced overall dimensions of the device.
  • a diffractive optical element designed to broaden the light beam directed towards the panel further in the horizontal direction.
  • the number 1 designates, as a whole, a panel of any type (for example a panel for advertising purposes or a panel for road signs) having a bottom side or base 2, two vertical sides 3, and a top side 4 along which a lighting device 5 according to the invention is set.
  • the said device includes one or more punctiform light sources 6 (in the example illustrated, three light sources are present), each consisting, for example, of a LED or laser lamp.
  • a reflecting structure 7 Associated to each source 6 is a reflecting structure 7.
  • the three reflecting structures 7 associated to the three sources 6 are integrated in a single structure, as may be clearly seen in Figure 1.
  • the reflecting structure 7 associated to each point source 6 has its cross section, which may be seen in Figure 2, in a vertical plane perpendicular to the panel 1.
  • the said section has a profile with a first portion 8, which is closer to the source 6 and is curved, with the convexity facing the panel 1, and a second portion 9, which is curved, with the concavity facing the panel 1.
  • the above geometry enables a substantially uniform illumination of the entire surface of the panel in the vertical direction, as is clearly visible in the diagram in the right-hand part of Figure 2, which shows the value of the illuminance I over the surface of the panel in the vertical direction Y.
  • the reduction in illuminance in the extreme top part and in the extreme bottom part of the panel 1 is limited to a very small area, so that the illuminance preserves its maximum value I max over a substantial part of the surface of the panel.
  • Each reflecting structure 7 has a section with a curved profile, convex towards the panel 1 also in any plane of section parallel to the panel 1. Thanks to this characteristic, the rays reflected by the reflecting structure 7 broaden out in the direction of the two sides of the panel, as is clearly illustrated in Figure 3.
  • Figure 3 which includes, in its top part, a diagram that illustrates the variation in illuminance in the X direction.
  • the decrease in illuminance at the two sides of the portion of the panel associated to each reflecting structure 7 is limited to an extremely small area, so that the illuminance preserves its maximum value I max for a prevalent portion of the surface of the panel. Thanks to these characteristics, the reflecting structure 7 may extend only along a central portion of the top side of the portion of the panel 1 to which the source'6 is associated, as emerges clearly from Figure 3.
  • the device according to the invention therefore affords high-efficiency illumination of the panel to be illuminated, with a structure that is simple, inexpensive and of small size, starting from a substantially punctiform light source.
  • the reflecting surface of the device according to the invention may also have a conformation different from the one illustrated, purely by way of example, in Figure 2.
  • the principle underlying the invention is that of shaping the reflecting surface in such a way that the light rays coming from the source and contained in the solid angle subtended by each elementary portion of the reflecting surface are reflected onto the panel to be illuminated along a substantially horizontal strip. Portions of the reflecting surface located in different vertical positions give rise to a horizontal strip of luminous flux in a different vertical position. As a whole, the reflecting surface gives rise to an area of illuminance of the type illustrated in Figure 4.
  • This area may, however, become of a constant vertical width, as illustrated in Figure 6, if the device of Figure 5 is adopted, where between the reflecting structure 6 and the panel 1 there is set a diffractive optical element having a conformation suitable for obtaining the result that may be seen in Figure 6.
  • Figure 8 of the attached drawings illustrates the profile of a binary diffractive optical element for the conformation of the beam in the horizontal direction. Since it is a periodic system, only the pattern within one period is shown.
  • appearing on the abscissa are the values of the ratio d/ ⁇ , where d is the period of the grating and ⁇ is the wavelength of the incident radiation.
  • Given on the ordinate are the values of the phase profile ⁇ of the binary grating with thirty-three orders of diffraction.
  • Figure 9 illustrates a diagram which represents the intensity corresponding to the orders of diffraction.
  • Figure 7 shows a second embodiment corresponding to the application as a lamp of a motor vehicle.
  • the rays reflected by the surface 7 are directed towards the transparent element 20 of the lamp.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Non-Portable Lighting Devices Or Systems Thereof (AREA)
  • Laminated Bodies (AREA)
  • Circuit Arrangement For Electric Light Sources In General (AREA)
  • Optical Elements Other Than Lenses (AREA)
  • Illuminated Signs And Luminous Advertising (AREA)
EP01830396A 2000-06-30 2001-06-14 Lighting device usable for illuminating a panel or as a lamp for motor vehicles Expired - Lifetime EP1172784B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ITTO200647 2000-06-30
IT2000TO000647A IT1320470B1 (it) 2000-06-30 2000-06-30 Dispositivo di illuminazione, utilizzabile particolarmente perl'illuminazione di un pannello o simile, oppure come fanale di

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1172784A2 EP1172784A2 (en) 2002-01-16
EP1172784A3 EP1172784A3 (en) 2005-01-19
EP1172784B1 true EP1172784B1 (en) 2007-07-25

Family

ID=11457873

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP01830396A Expired - Lifetime EP1172784B1 (en) 2000-06-30 2001-06-14 Lighting device usable for illuminating a panel or as a lamp for motor vehicles

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1172784B1 (it)
AT (1) ATE368272T1 (it)
DE (1) DE60129512T2 (it)
IT (1) IT1320470B1 (it)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7163322B2 (en) * 2003-09-19 2007-01-16 Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. Illumination device for license plate
JP4437707B2 (ja) 2004-06-24 2010-03-24 株式会社小糸製作所 ライセンスプレートの照明装置
FR2887506B1 (fr) * 2005-06-24 2008-10-17 Koito Mfg Co Ltd Dispositif pour eclairer une plaque mineralogique

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4929866A (en) * 1987-11-17 1990-05-29 Mitsubishi Cable Industries, Ltd. Light emitting diode lamp
DE3929955A1 (de) * 1989-09-08 1991-03-14 Inotec Gmbh Ges Fuer Innovativ Lichtstrahler
FR2732655B1 (fr) * 1995-04-05 1997-06-20 Magneti Marelli France Dispositif d'eclairage d'indicateur et tableau de bord incorporant celui-ci
JP3173453B2 (ja) * 1998-03-13 2001-06-04 スタンレー電気株式会社 車両用信号灯具
IT1308370B1 (it) * 1999-02-15 2001-12-17 Fiat Ricerche Fanale per autoveicolo, utilizzabile ad esempio per l'illuminazionedella targa o come indicatore di direzione.
DE20004188U1 (de) * 2000-03-06 2000-05-04 Fer Fahrzeugelektrik Gmbh Leuchte

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
None *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE60129512T2 (de) 2007-11-22
EP1172784A3 (en) 2005-01-19
ATE368272T1 (de) 2007-08-15
DE60129512D1 (de) 2007-09-06
ITTO20000647A1 (it) 2001-12-30
IT1320470B1 (it) 2003-11-26
ITTO20000647A0 (it) 2000-06-30
EP1172784A2 (en) 2002-01-16

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